The Prevalence and Risk Factors of Myopia among School Children in Africa: A Structured Literature Review

Aim: This review aims to provide current evidence on the prevalence and risk factors of Myopia among school children in Africa.

Background: Myopia has emerged the most prevalent and major cause of visual distress which may result in poor academic performance among school children compared to other refractive error conditions. Whereas the importance of optimal vision for competence in academic achievement has been emphasised. Hence, the association of increase in myopia prevalence with increase in age coupled with its projected critical rise to 26.9% in Africa by 2050 is worrisome.

Methodology: This review was conducted using the population, intervention, comparison, outcome (PICO) framework guidelines and PRISMA 2020 Flow Diagram for New systematic Reviews. Also, four digital databases; MEDLINE, CINAHL, PROQUEST, WEB OF SCIENCE and a Web Search Engine (Google scholar) were searched for studies on Prevalence and Risk factors of myopia among school children in Africa from January 2012 to March 2023. Studies were appraised for quality using Joanna Briggs Appraisal tool for prevalence studies. Data were analysed based on age, gender, and risk factors of myopia, while the myopia was defined as SE ≥-0.50D.

Results: Data from 10,031 school children and 6 quality appraised studies were included in this review. Overall, the prevalence of myopia ranged from 2.7% to 16.05% among school children in Africa. The prevalence of myopia was significantly higher among the older children (10–18-year-olds), while Age at school start, Level of education, family history of myopia, working distance at near, prolonged near work per day, private school of learning, time spent on mobile exposure, and presence of ocular abnormality were significantly associated with myopia.

Conclusion: Prevalence of myopia among school children is generally low in Africa but the retrieved studies offered geographical variations with outlying higher prevalence in some regions.